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“Are you going to tell me why I’m going to sit and not go home to fuck my fiancé?”
“Fiancé, huh?” Ma’s brows rise. “Pretty sure you and I both know why you won’t want to be going home in a hurry. Sit. Now.”
Pulling out the leather chair, I roll my eyes because she’s right. Ma doesn’t know anything about my life, but no one does, and that’s not because they don’t care. That’s because I’ve mastered the art of telling people what they want to hear to protect what is really happening.
“Can I get a drink at least?”
“You’re driving,” Ma says, pointing to the keys I’ve placed on the table.
“Well, I’ll only have one!”
Ma chuckles. “I only have whiskey.”
“I’ve already had one of those tonight.” I sigh, resting my head back against the chair. Looks like I’m doing this sober.
“Lydia, this is Meraki. Meraki, this is Lydia.” I go to open my mouth to say hello, when Ma adds, “Nikolai’s girlfriend.”
It makes sense now, why Ma is sitting there all smug.
I smile at Lydia anyway. I didn’t expect Niko to be single. The man is too much of a ho. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too! So which man is yours?” Lydia asks, tucking her hair behind her ear innocently. Oh, this poor woman. Niko is either using her or he’s bored. She’s beautiful, sure, but to attain Niko, you need more than good looks. You need grit and defiance because he likes the fight too much.
I smile. “A—”
“—None,” Niko’s voice interrupts our chatter, but I refuse to pay him any attention, keeping my eyes locked on Lydia.
“As Niko said, none. My fiancé is at home.” I drag out the word fiancé, aiming the sharp edges of every syllable silently toward Niko.
“And now we know that’s a lie…” Ma tsks under her breath, hiding her smug smirk behind her mug.
I narrow my eyes at her, sinking farther into my chair. “Ma, why are you drinking vodka from a coffee mug?”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Niko asks, leaning against the fridge.
Again, ignoring him. His body heat alone is enough to set me on fire. I don’t need the igniter, a.k.a. his eyes, to do it for me.
“What?” Ma asks up at her son, knowing damn well what she has done.
“What?” Lydia’s head whips from left to right to left again between Ma, Niko, and me.
“Fuck, I need that drink.” I shove up from my chair and go straight for the cabinet I know where the alcohol is.
“Seriously? How often has she been coming here while I’ve been gone, Ma?” Niko asks his mother as if I’m not here. “She’s fuckin’ walking around like she damn well owns the place, and what was the one rule I had?”
“Ahhh, I get it!” Lydia clicks her fingers, just as I flick the lid off the bourbon and bring the rim to my lips. “You’re siblings, right?”
I cough back on the potent liquid that’s leaving a burning trail down my throat, swiping my mouth with the cushion of my thumb, followed closely by my tongue.
“Ah…”
“What?” Niko finally looks at his girlfriend. “Fuck no!”
Lydia’s face falls.
“Look, I’d love to stay for the theatrics of this whole thing, but I’ve got a fiancé to fuck and a cat to feed, so if you’ll excuse me.” I place the bottle on the counter, walking back to the table to grab my keys, only Niko is faster. He snatches them out of my hands.
“Ah, no the fuck you ain’t. I’ll drive you.”
“Nikos, I had a fucking sip. Give me my damn keys.”
“Nikos is your other name?” Lydia asks quietly, and I squeeze my eyes closed.
I feel bad for her finding out so many new things about her glorious boyfriend right now, so I turn around to face her, placing my hands on the table.
“Hi, I’m Meraki Mallory. I gather Nik hasn’t told you much about his life here, or at the very least, left me out of it, which by the way, totally fine, but just thought I should let you know who you’re with.” I take a deep breath.
“Bub…” Ma cuts me off, but she knows I’m already deep into my rant.
“Your lovely boyfriend here was my best friend all of my life. My aunt who raised me was also best friends with Ma, so we practically lived together. Inseparable. Come my seventeenth birthday, an incident happened and his brother was killed. That was the final night I saw Niko, and it was his mother’s final night too. See, you’re with someone who runs away from the people who he supposedly cares about.”
I look over my shoulder at Niko, tears clogged in my eyes. I do not cry and will not right now.
“Even if he knows it’s going to break your heart.”
“Bub, he was in contact with me,” Ma adds sadly from behind and I close my eyes tightly, willing those wretched tears to stay in place.
